Future is green for Breen

The defender has had his share of knocks at the final hurdle, but is more upbeat than ever about Irish prospects

Gary Breen remembers Shay Given’s tears and the sad climax to the international careers of Andy Townsend and Ray Houghton. A 2-1 playoff defeat by Belgium after a 1-1 draw at Lansdowne Road, and Ireland’s 1998 World Cup dream was over. For a 23-year-old looking around the dressing room in the Heysel stadium that night, it was depressing, and that sorrowful scene left a mark.

“An awful feeling, a terrible feeling,” recalls Breen, 29 now and a veteran himself of experiences good and bad wearing Ireland’s green jersey. “It was just total disappointment, deflation. To be in a playoff, to be that near the World Cup finals, then to lose, what can you say?” This bad place had been visited before. Anfield was the site of anguish in 1995 when defeat to the Dutch in a straight elimination match knocked Ireland out of Euro 96. It happened again against Turkey